Hello "Weekend"

We had our back to school night last night, and I just love my new class.  I was able to meet most of my families, but due to the excessive heat and humidity we had going on yesterday I think a few chose to stay home in the AC.  I love having a chance to meet and greet all my new families before the school year officially begins.  It just makes me that much more excited about the first day.  I even had a few surprise visits from former students as well. They always make my day because they tell me they wish they could still be in second grade. They are so sweet! 

Well, I am off to get my house in order.  It has been neglected this past week as I was busily preparing for the new year. Yikes!

Take Care everyone!

Peek at My Week Linky

Our first week doesn't start until after Labor Day, but I wanted to join in on the Linky fun.

I use two different resources from the wonderful Amy Lemons.  Let's Get Started, which are beginning of the year math activities and My School Rules.  My School Rules is fantastic and I love the scenarios she provides that engage the students in problem solving responses to poor behavior choices.  I use Whole Brain Teaching, so we go over those concepts quite often the first few days of school.

I also use the Teach Wife's Back to School pack.  The teacher hunt, board game and all about me book get us all acquainted with one another.  Something new I am planning on trying is Alma Almazan's Scan It, Read It, Find It, Write It sight words packet.  While the kiddos are busy trying it out, I'll be doing individual assessments of sight word knowledge. 

I am also putting to use the adorable Daily 5 posters created by Leslie, the Groovy Teacher. To round out my reading instruction, I'll be using lessons from Tanny McGregor's book Comprehension Connections. She has a new book out that I am eagerly waiting from Amazon. It should be here today!  

 Click Here to Download lessons. They are not editable, sorry. 

To add your own lessons to the linky, please click on the Peek at My Week Linky picture below.

Have a great week everyone!

Classroom Reveal and another Freebie

Okay I have have everything done except my door. That will be a project for next week.  Almost everything on the inside is ready to go!

Well that is all for now.

When I get my door done, I will post it!

Here is the freebie...

Thanks for stopping by.

QR Codes for Class Dojo

CLICK the PIC

I thought I'd share this with everyone!  I created Class Dojo themed QR behavior cards to use with the kiddos.

In my room I'll be using them to reward students that have earned a set number of points by the end of the week.  They'll reach in a bowl and draw a mystery card. Once they scan the card they'll see the reward they have earned!

I used the free QR creator below to create codes.

Take Care!

My classroom is coming along....but I have no pictures to prove it.

I am a little jealous that so many of you have your rooms done, but then I realize that many of you are also already back to school so I get over it.  I have been busy working away in my classroom, and we officially start until the 27th.  Our Open House (Meet the Teacher) will be on the 29th and the little ones start Sept. 3rd.  I can't wait!  I don't know about you, but I can never sleep this time of year.  I am always wondering, worrying and planning throughout the night.  I have learned to write down the things I think about in the middle of the night, so I can get back to sleep-but it doesn't last long.  I don't have any pictures of my room yet. I will post them on Friday, or maybe sooner.  

Back to School Sale!

If you are like me then your wish list if chock full of great things just waiting to be purchased and downloaded. Teachers Pay Teachers is throwing a sale this Sunday and Monday and I am joining in, so you can save up to 28% on any purchase from my store.  Just click on the link below! Make sure you enter in promo code BTS13 at the check out.

A shout out goes to the 3AM Teacher for this banner freebie!

I'm off to add more things to my cart!

Vacation!

Here is a quick photo montage of our trip.

 First stop, Milwaukee Museum of Art. We looked at art,made some art, and found a sculpture of our dog Lola!

We also ate at the Safe House.  You need to know the secret password to get in, or else they make you do a silly dance!

Then we went up north to Houghton, Michigan. We used to live here when my husband went to Michigan Tech.   This is the bridge over the Portage Canal.

The first thing we did was walk some of the homeless dogs from the shelter that I worked at 17 years ago.

This is Covered Road, just Northwest of Houghton. It is really pretty in the fall.

Here we are getting ready to go down into the old Delaware Mine.  I am extremely nervous in caves and things of that nature! I prefer to look for my rocks above ground.

This is me walking as fast as I can in the dark, and my husband trying to get me to stop for a photo!

No, Thank You!

 This is outside of the mine.

Views from Quincy Mine at the top of Mount Ripley overlooking Houghton. 

Here are the girls on top of Brockway Mountain Drive. Every time we go to the copper country we make them sit together for a photo. I need to get them all put together.

 

These next photos are of my favorite rock picking place on the planet!  We came up to do the Ore to Shore Mountain Bike Race for the fourth time.  It is probably one of our favorites. 2,500 people turned out for it this year.

I did have a wonderful time, but I have to admit I was constantly fretting over all the things I still needed to get done before the start of the year.  I spent the entire 28 miles of my bike race/ride thinking about school, well maybe only 22 miles of it. The rest was spent enjoying the scenery.  It was the first time I had been back on my mountain bike since last July, and  I really have missed being able to ride my bike in the woods.

Well, I am off to buy MORE ink so I can run the rest of the things I need to laminate before the beginning of the school year.